1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to containers such as test tubes suitable for use in solid phase immunochemical and enzymatical determinations or procedures, to their preparation and to their use in such determinations or procedures. They are particularly useful in radioimmunoassay solid phase determinations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous solid phase immunochemical procedures are known. Typically, the biologically active reagent utilized is rendered insoluble prior to immune reaction by attachment to an insoluble carrier such as by physical adsorption, by covalent cross-linking or by covalent binding. In the case of radioimmunoassay, (RIA), an antibody is rendered insoluble prior to the reaction with labelled and unlabelled antigen.
Examples of various test tubes as insoluble carriers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,721,528, 3,888,629, 3,768,979, 3,615,222, 3,865,552, 3,867,517 and 3,938,953. These patents show tubes, including two piece tubes, coated with various biologically active substances, such as antigens or antibodies. Insoluble particles as carriers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,551,555, 3,639,558 and 3,553,310. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,555 discloses polymeric particles coated with an inert protein to which a biologically active substance is adsorbed. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,553,310 discloses polymeric particles coated with an inert protein to which a biologically active substance is coupled using an aldehyde. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,558 discloses polymeric particles to which an inert protein is coupled and having the biologically active substance coupled to the protein. An example of a slide and a microporous membrane are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,421 and German Pat. No. DT-2539-657. Various polymers and coupling agents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,555,143, 3,857,931, 3,914,400, 3,826,619, 3,793,445, 3,949,064, 3,646,346, 3,853,987, 3,708,572 and 3,714,345.
Solid phase RIA procedures utilizing a biologically active reagent attached to an insoluble carrier were developed to simplify the separation of free antigen from antibody bound antigen. However, some of these currently available have one or more of the following disadvantages including excessive handling steps, poor reproducibility and/or sensitivity.
Consequently, a solid phase immunochemical procedure that provides fast and rapid separation and is accurate, sensitive and reproducible would be an advancement in the art.